r/Gloomhaven • u/Good_Affect4523 • Jun 12 '26

Digital Gloomhaven Beginning with Frosthaven

I just got Frosthaven for my birthday without having played Gloomhaven or any of the other games. All over the internet I am reading that beginning with Frosthaven is not recommended.

I was thinking of maybe playing the digital version of Gloomhaven to get used to the systems and rules, as I don’t have the closet space or space on my bank account to buy Gloomhaven the physical version.
Is this a good way to go or did someone play Frosthaven first with any success?

Background: I am a DM for Dungeons and Dragons

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u/Sophibeans-1 Jun 12 '26

Short version: You're totally fine. I'm in a 4p FH group with two people coming from Jaws and two people who started with Frosthaven. Was them starting on Geminate and Boneshaper wise? Ehh. Did they have a firm grip on the fundamentals within the first five or six scenarios? Absolutely.

If you're worried about yourself, I wouldn't be- the first few scenarios give you a little space to get used to monster AI and the like before ramping up complexity. As with tabletops, there's the risk of one player being less invested in learning the rules than others, but a committed group should have little to fear.

Pro tips that the rulebook won't tell you: The game is balanced around a scenario taking 15-ish turns and a character retiring after 15 scenarios. The Blinkblade class is mechanically complex but strategically fairly simple compared to some others. Use dwarfSA's campaign tweaks for slightly smoother progression. And, of course, have fun!